Lea Michele Sarfati is an American stage and television actress, singer, and songwriter.
95 Facts About Lea Michele
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Lea Michele began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of Les Miserables, Ragtime, Fiddler on the Roof, and Spring Awakening.
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Lea Michele made her feature film debut in New Year's Eve, and was signed to Columbia Records in 2012.
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Lea Michele released her debut single the following year, "Cannonball", followed by her debut studio album, Louder, which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States.
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Lea Michele has published two books, Brunette Ambition and You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life.
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In 2022, Lea Michele returned to Broadway starring as Fanny Brice in the musical revival of Funny Girl, where she received widespread critical acclaim for her performance.
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Lea Michele Sarfati was born in The Bronx, New York.
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Lea Michele is the only child of Edith Thomasina, a retired nurse, and Mark David Sarfati, a real estate agent and former delicatessen owner.
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Lea Michele's mother is an Italian American with ancestors from Rome and Naples, while her father is a Sephardic Jew with Judaeo-Spanish-speaking ancestors from Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Lea Michele was raised in her mother's Catholic faith, and has stated that her father "gladly" attended Mass with them.
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Lea Michele spent the first four years of her life living in the Bronx, until she and her parents moved to the more suburban area of Tenafly, New Jersey.
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The family rented an apartment in Manhattan, where they would live when Lea Michele was performing on Broadway.
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Lea Michele was educated at Rockland Country Day School for elementary school in Congers, New York.
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Lea Michele started using her middle name at an early age.
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When she went on her first audition, for the role of Young Cosette in Les Miserables, she gave her name as Lea Michele, and has used it professionally ever since.
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Lea Michele stated that she intentionally left off her surname because she was teased about its pronunciation.
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Lea Michele went along to support a friend, but ended up landing the part herself.
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In 1997, Lea Michele was homeschooled while living and working in Toronto, where she performed in a production of Ragtime.
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Lea Michele refrained from auditioning for Broadway roles during her freshman, sophomore and junior years so she could focus on her education.
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Lea Michele was later accepted to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but opted instead to continue working professionally on the stage.
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When Lea Michele was 19 years old, her mother Edith was diagnosed with uterine cancer.
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Lea Michele made her Broadway debut in 1995, at the age of eight, as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in Les Miserables.
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Lea Michele portrayed the part of the Little Girl for a year in the original Toronto cast, before the production was transferred to Broadway.
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In 2004, Lea Michele began portraying Shprintze in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and understudied the role of Chava.
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Lea Michele performed on the cast recording of the show.
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Lea Michele next played the role of Wendla Bergmann in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening, starring in early workshops and Off-Broadway performances, before finally originating the role in the 2006 Broadway production at the age of twenty.
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Around the same time that Spring Awakening was set to go to Broadway, Lea Michele was offered the role of Eponine Thenardier in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables.
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Lea Michele elected to remain with Spring Awakening, which premiered on Broadway in December 2006.
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In January 2008, Lea Michele starred in a concert production of the musical Alive in the World as Phoebe, aiding the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.
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Lea Michele debuted her solo cabaret Once Upon a Dream at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency.
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In May 2008, Lea Michele left the Broadway cast of Spring Awakening with her co-star Jonathan Groff.
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Lea Michele then performed as Claudia Octavia in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College.
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Lea Michele starred alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert and John Lloyd Young as Marius Pontmercy, both of whom would go on to guest star on Glee.
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From 2009 until its ending in 2015, Michele starred in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee as Rachel Berry, the show's female lead and star singer.
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Lea Michele was included on Time list of the 100 Most Influential People In the World for 2010.
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Lea Michele's cover of The All-American Rejects' song "Gives You Hell" reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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In February 2011, Lea Michele performed at The Grammys' MusiCares Person of the Year event in Los Angeles, honoring Barbra Streisand.
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Lea Michele sang "My Man" from the Streisand film Funny Girl.
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Lea Michele then starred in Garry Marshall's romantic comedy film New Year's Eve portraying Elise, a back-up singer and the love interest of Ashton Kutcher's character.
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On September 18,2012, it was announced that Lea Michele would be working on her first solo album.
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Lea Michele began recordings for the album soon after on October 19,2012.
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In May 2013, it was announced that Lea Michele had signed a deal with Harmony Books and Random House to pen a part memoir, part how-to book titled Brunette Ambition.
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From 2015 to 2016, Lea Michele starred in the Fox horror-comedy series Scream Queens, alongside original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, portraying the quirky, neck brace-wearing Hester Ulrich.
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Lea Michele was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Actress in a New TV Series, and two Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Actress: Comedy and Choice TV: Villain for her performance in the role.
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On March 15,2016, the charity single "This Is for My Girls", on which Michele was one of eight featured singers, was released as a charity single.
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Lea Michele began recording for her second studio album in April 2015.
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Lea Michele stated that the album would be less pop-influenced than her debut, and would "[go] back to [her] roots" with a more theatrical sound.
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On October 8,2017, Lea Michele performed as a headlining act at the third annual musical theatre festival Elsie Fest, founded by her Glee co-star Darren Criss.
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Lea Michele starred as the lead in a holiday television film, Same Time, Next Christmas, for ABC.
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From December 19,2019, Lea Michele performed live with a series of shows in The Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
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Lea Michele was scheduled to perform seven shows a week, excluding Thursday evenings.
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The parallels between Lea Michele taking on the role and her Glee character's story line where she lands her dream role in the musical's first Broadway revival have been widely discussed in the media.
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On September 11,2022, four days into her run as Fanny Brice, Michele announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, requiring her to isolate for at least ten days.
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Lea Michele returned to the stage on September 20,2022.
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On opening night, Lea Michele received multiple standing ovations for her performance, which had been highly anticipated.
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Lea Michele makes it through with blood on the sand.
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Lea Michele was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.
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One of the most significant influential figures in Lea Michele's life is Barbra Streisand whom she cites as her "role model".
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Lea Michele's mother Edith would play her films when she was a child.
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Lea Michele dedicated a chapter in her book Brunette Ambition to Streisand, noting that it is important for people to have someone to look up to.
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Lea Michele said that she would watch West Side Story as a child and want to play the role of Maria.
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Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill was the first album Lea Michele purchased, and in a 2014 interview has said she still owns.
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However, Christopher Weingarten of Rolling Stone critiqued that Lea Michele's voice is "a little too perfect" for pop music charts.
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Lea Michele's "Don't Rain On My Parade" live is an amazing and thrilling treat.
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In 2022, Lea Michele returned to Broadway playing Fanny Brice in a revival of Funny Girl, to widespread critical acclaim.
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Riley and Morris disputed the implication that Lea Michele's behavior had been racist.
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Lea Michele has been the subject of rumors, conspiracy theories, and jokes that she is illiterate since 2017, with the rumor becoming a popular Internet meme in March 2018 and again in 2022.
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The rumor started with Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman of the podcast One More Thing as they were discussing a scene from Naya Rivera's memoir Sorry Not Sorry in which Lea Michele refused to improvise scenes with Tim Conway.
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Lea Michele has participated in Broadway Barks, Broadway Bares, the Easter Bonnet Competition, and the Flea Market and Grand Auction.
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In 2008, Lea Michele performed in a benefit concert production of Alive in the World to aid the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.
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In September 2010, Lea Michele was honored by PETA for her work with animals.
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In 2010 Lea Michele was introduced in Time 100 list for her artistic talent and the ability to influence student participation in school activities.
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In October 2010, Lea Michele performed at a benefit concert for The Painted Turtle.
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The concert celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Michele playing the lead role of Janet Weiss.
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In July 2012, Lea Michele hosted the launch of the Valspar Hands for Habitat charity auction, donating a signed hand print to be auctioned off.
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Lea Michele has been an ambassador for L'Oreal's Women of Worth program since December 2012, celebrating women who have positively impacted their communities.
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Lea Michele was then the host of the fundraiser "Lea Michele's Night of Shopping and Cocktails" on December 14,2013, presented by SodaStream, which benefited Chrysalis, a non-profit organization helping homeless people find work.
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In February 2016, it was announced that Lea Michele would collaborate with Burt's Bees in a campaign to act on the declining population of bees.
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Lea Michele continues to support the Los Angeles-based non-profit Step Up and attends their annual Step Up Inspiration Awards event.
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In November 2017, Lea Michele partnered with eBay to design a pin to benefit Feeding America; she auctioned off a set visit to one of her projects in 2018.
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On May 1,2019, Lea Michele joined Former First Lady Michelle Obama at Reach Higher's 2019 College Signing Day.
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In 2007, along with her Spring Awakening co-stars, Lea Michele was featured in a Gap Inc marketing campaign.
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In 2010, Lea Michele became a spokesmodel for beauty company Dove, performing the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music in television commercials for the brand.
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Lea Michele performed the song "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" as Rachel Berry.
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Also in 2011, Lea Michele became a spokesperson for a Nike workout application.
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In January 2012, Candie's announced that Lea Michele would be the spokesmodel for their brand, taking over from Vanessa Hudgens who was the face of the brand for the previous year.
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In September 2012, it was revealed that Lea Michele had signed an estimated $1 million deal to be a spokesperson for L'Oreal Paris.
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Lea Michele has appeared in magazine spreads and television commercials promoting their products.
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In December 2018 Lea Michele teamed with Old Navy and Lyft to announce free car sharing to stores for holidays.
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In February 2019, Lea Michele appeared in a commercial for ZOLA, a wedding planning website.
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Lea Michele had a partnership with meal kit delivery service HelloFresh until June 2,2020, when the company announced they had ended their partnership with her as a result of a controversy surrounding accusations of bullying against Lea Michele.
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Lea Michele began working with actor Cory Monteith in 2008, when they were cast as love interests on Glee.
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On May 2,2020, Lea Michele announced that she and Reich were expecting their first child.
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In September 2019, Lea Michele revealed she had polycystic ovary syndrome.
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Lea Michele was diagnosed around the age of 30, having struggled with symptoms such as weight gain and acne since the end of Glee.